


My Favorite Inspiration

by Quickspinner



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Endgame Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, F/M, Fluff, Fluff you shall have, Forehead Kisses, Lbscexchange, Lbscexchange2020, SO MUCH FLUFF, You asked for fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-30
Updated: 2020-01-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:54:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22473655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quickspinner/pseuds/Quickspinner
Summary: Marinette's having a bit of designer's block, but somehow Luka always knows what to do.
Relationships: Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 17
Kudos: 189
Collections: Lovebugs and Snake Charmers





	My Favorite Inspiration

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bellemyers](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bellemyers/gifts).



> Here you go bellemyers, I hope you love it! The prompts were forehead kisses and snuggles, so I tried to include both. Please enjoy the fluff responsibly.

“Oooh,” Luka said, halfway up through the hatch to Marinette’s room. “That’s not a good face.”

Marinette moaned, turned her chair back to the desk, and flopped down on it, burying her face in her arms. “I can’t do this, Luka,” she groaned. 

“Well, I don’t believe that for a minute,” Luka said, coming the rest of the way into her room. He slipped off the strap of his guitar case, and laid it gently on the ground, and then went to Marinette, laying a hand on her back and rubbing it lightly. “You absolutely can do it.” 

“You don’t even know what I’m talking about,” Marinette grumbled, turning her head enough to peek at him with one eye. 

“I don’t need to,” Luka leaned down to give her a cheeky grin. “You can do anything you put your mind to, I’ve seen it. But go ahead and tell me what’s giving you trouble.”

Without lifting her head, Marinette reached out, slapping blindly on her desk for a moment, before her hand finally landed on a loose piece of paper. She grabbed it and held it up.

Luka took it, straightening up to read it, though he kept one hand on Marinette’s back. “Junior Design Contest,” he read, “Sponsored by Teen Vogue Paris.” He snorted. “See? I was right. You absolutely can do it.”

“I can’t,” Marinette moaned, still face-down on the desk. “I’ve been trying for hours. Nothing is working. Everything I come up with is terrible and derivative! Unoriginal! It’ll be so bad that not only will the judging committee laugh themselves stupid at my proposal, they’ll probably pass it around in the industry for laughs and I’ll be blacklisted and then it’ll end up in classes for young design students as an example of what NOT to do and—”

“Whoa, whoa, breathe, Marinette,” Luka reached forward and stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers. “Come on, sit up and look at me.” 

Marinette let out a heavy sigh, and then did as he asked, leaning back until she was slumped in her chair and pouting up at him. “Luuuukaaaa,” she whined. 

“Hey.” Luka reached down and turned her chair around, and then pulled it back with him to the chaise so they were sitting knee to knee. “Okay, you’ve had your little pity party,” he teased. “But you and I both know that Marinette Dupain-Cheng does not back down from a challenge. Is this contest really something you want to do?”

“Well...yes,” she sighed. “I mean, the derby hat contest was cool but it was pretty small-scale. Teen Vogue Paris, there’ll be hundreds of designs submitted. If I could make the top ten in a competition like that, it would really mean something. But I’ve been so busy, I didn’t find out about it until yesterday, and I really have to crank something out if I want to make the submission deadline. And I’ve been trying but I’ve got nothing!” She ended in a wail, throwing her hands up.

Luka smiled to himself, and took her hands. “Marinette, I’ve never known anyone with a mind that works like yours,” he said seriously, cradling her hands in his. “You’re smart and creative and fantastic under pressure. I know sometimes when you’re on a short timeline, it can feel like you have to get it right the first time and you can’t always let your creative process work itself out. But you need to just take a breath, and let it happen. Forget about the deadline for a little bit. You can’t make a plan to meet it until you know what you want to do. You’re trying to jump to step seven and you need to start back at one. Just let the ideas flow for now.” 

Marinette gave him an uncertain look. 

Luka moved his hands up to cup her face and leaned forward to kiss her forehead tenderly. “Whatever’s going on in here,” he whispered against her skin, “It’s going to be brilliant and amazing.” He kissed her forehead again, and then her nose. “So just let it come out, give your imagination some room to breathe. Don’t edit yourself. You can sort it all out later.” He sat back. “Will you come take a walk with me, maybe talk it out a bit? I’m a good listener.” They both smiled at that.

“Well…” Marinette sighed. “I guess I’m not getting anything done here, so...sure, let’s go for a walk.” 

Luka grinned, and waited while she got her things together and tucked her sketchbook under her arm. He strapped his guitar back on, and together they went downstairs and out into the sunshine. Luka smiled to himself as Marinette took a deep breath by his side. She slipped her hand into his and he could feel some of the tension leave her. Luka laced their fingers together. “Anywhere in particular you want to walk?” 

“Anywhere is fine,” Marinette shrugged. 

“Okay.” Luka gave her hand a little tug to get them started. “So, tell me about these ideas that you decided wouldn’t work.”

“Well, at first I thought—“ 

Luka listened as she listed ideas and dismissed them just as quickly. There was one, though, that she kept circling back to, and the smile on his face grew slowly as her words flowed faster and her step got bouncy and her eyes lit up. “There we go,” he murmured to himself, and allowed a satisfied smile to settle on his face as he concentrated on guiding Marinette through the streets, tugging her around obstacles and out of the way of hazards. 

Suddenly he realized they were near the Liberty and had to laugh at himself. He’d led her there automatically. “Think you’re ready to start sketching?” he asked the next time Marinette paused for breath. He nodded to where the boat could be seen in the distance.

“Oh. Oh!” Marinette blinked, just as surprised as he’d been. “Yeah, that would be great actually.” She giggled and Luka grinned. 

Rose and Juleka were hanging out on deck, so Luka and Marinette went below and curled up side by side on Luka’s bed. Luka got out his guitar and occupied himself with it as Marinette began to sketch.

“There,” she sighed finally, putting her pencil down and stretching her fingers. “I can work with this. It’s enough for the proposal, at least, and I can keep refining it after submission so that I’ll be ready if I make the first cut.”

“Will you hit me if I say I told you so?” 

“Absolutely.”

“Okay,” Luka chuckled. “Then I won’t. Even though I totally did.”

Marinette dug her elbow into his ribs. Luka winced away and grabbed her hand, and in the ensuing struggle, Marinette’s sketchbook slid from her lap, bounced off the edge of the bed, and landed on the floor.

“I got it,” Luka grunted, shoving her hands away. He leaned down and reached out one long arm to snag the book from the floor.

“Thank you, Luka,” Marinette said gratefully, but when she tried to take the book, Luka didn’t let go. She looked at him and found he was staring down at the sketchbook. 

“What’s this?” he asked, turning it towards her. The pages had flipped when it fell and it was now open to a design for a jacket with a very familiar blue and pink lightning bolt down one sleeve, a scattering of pink and blue stars on the other arm, and triangular details along the shoulders that echoed the shoulder piece of his stage costume.

Marinette groaned, trying to snatch the book back from him. “Oh, no, that was supposed to be a surprise.” Luka let her take it reluctantly, and then slipped his arm around her waist.

“I really like it,” he said quietly, nuzzling her cheek. “Can I see the rest of it?” 

“What makes you think there’s more?” Marinette said lightly, and Luka chuckled. He pulled her over his leg to sit her in front of him so he could wrap his arms around her waist.

“Please?” he said, resting his chin on her shoulder. “I’m sorry for ruining the surprise, but I’d really like to see what else you have. It looked awesome.”

Marinette sighed, and pouted a bit, but she opened the book and turned it to the next page so he could see the back of the jacket. It had Luka’s name on the back in pointy letters, and the kitty section mask logo, personalized with a blue horn and his lightning bolt over the eye.

“I was just playing with some ideas for merchandise that I wanted to show you guys,” sighed Marinette, “But I got so into it and started adding all these details, and I decided to keep it back and try to make it for your birthday.” She groaned. “Ugh, now my whole plan is ruined!”

Luka squeezed her tight, and she leaned back against him and let her head fall against his shoulder. “It’s not ruined,” he said in her ear. “I love it, Marinette, I really do. Now I get to be excited the whole time you’re making it. Have you started yet? Can I go shopping with you?”

“I haven’t started yet,” Marinette replied, amused. “And no, if I let you go shopping with me you’ll end up paying for something and I’m not going to let that happen.” 

“It’d be the least I could do when you’re going through all this work.”

“I knew you’d say that.” Marinette elbowed him, more gently this time. “It’s a gift. That’s not now gifts work.” 

Luka leaned around her and curled a finger under her chin, turning her face back up towards him. “It’s enough of a gift that you even thought enough of me to create something like this, let alone make it for me with your own two hands.” He kissed her forehead tenderly, almost reverently. “You’re going to do great things, Marinette. I’m honored to be even a small part of it.” 

Marinette turned red and spluttered, dropping the sketchbook in her lap as she covered her flaming cheeks. “Luka! How can you just say things like that?”

“Because they’re true,” Luka said, grinning, letting her face forward and hugging her close again. “Now come on, tell me more.” 

“Well,” Marinette sighed, picking up the sketchbook again and turning back to the front view. “I guess since the surprise is ruined I might as well ask what you’d prefer. Do you like Juleka’s star on the other sleeve? I know how close you are so I thought maybe—but if you don’t like it we could just leave that sleeve plain...I think two lightning bolts would be too much though—”

“I love the stars,” Luka smiled, resting his chin back on her shoulder. “I love that you thought to put Juleka’s symbol on it for me.”

“And for the color of the jacket itself, do you think white, grey, or black? I could do it in blue but I don’t think the details would stand out so much…”

“What were you thinking?” Luka asked.

“Well, I know you don’t wear a lot of white, but—” Marinette went on about the pros and cons of the different choices, more thinking out loud than asking his opinion, but her face began to redden as she slowly became aware that Luka was cuddling closer and closer, curling around her, his chin still on his shoulder, his arms tight around her waist, his chest pressed against her back. 

“You’re so amazing,” he said, and the genuine admiration in his voice was enough to render her speechless. Marinette meeped quietly and turned in his arms, burying her face into his shoulder. “Aw, come on,” he teased, moving one hand to rub it along her back. “It’s the truth, I should be allowed to say it.” 

“Well, what about you?” Marinette pushed back, looking at him with a determined pout. “Does that mean I get to compliment you until you can’t talk?”

Luka laughed lightly. “Go ahead,” he teased, rubbing his nose lightly against hers. “I don’t blush as easily as you.” 

“Oh yeah?” Marinette never backed down from a challenge. She turned to gave him fully and got up on her knees so that her face was level with his. Luka sat back slightly, leaning back on his hands, the amused smile still on his face. Marinette planted her hands on his shoulders.

“You’re a great listener,” Marinette began, “And you’re a great brother. I know you’re always supporting Juleka and watching out for her.” He continued to look at her placidly, though there might have been just the faintest bit of color in his face. She wasn’t sure. “You’re an amazing musician. Kitty Section would fall apart without you.” Okay, that got some definite color, and a slight change of expression, like he wanted to deny that last part. That gave her an idea. She licked her lips and adjusted her position slightly as she prepared her next attack.

“You’re always encouraging everyone around you. You welcomed Adrien when he showed up. You’re always complimenting the other band members and when you have criticisms, you’re so thoughtful about it that nobody minds hearing it from you.” Okay, she was closer to the mark. There was definite color in his cheeks now. “You’re a natural leader and you do it so gently no one resents you for taking charge.”

“Marinette,” he said, looking away. “That’s—“

“True,” she insisted. Time to go in for the kill. “And you inspire me,” she told him, a slow smile growing over her face. “You always encourage me and give me a safe place to create. No matter how stuck or frustrated I am,  _ you _ make me feel better. You’re kind and selfless and you always know what I need. So I think your mind is just as brilliant as mine, even if it maybe works a little bit differently.” She leaned up and kissed his forehead as he’d done for her, and Luka made an inarticulate noise, pulling her to him so he could bury his now very red face in her shoulder.

“I win,” Marinette said cheekily, giggling as she moved her legs out from under her to settle more comfortably into his embrace.

“You forgot something,” he mumbled from her shoulder.

“Yes?”

“I have Jagged Stone’s personal designer making my birthday present.”

Marinette laughed and put her arms around him. 


End file.
